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Lewis Gun Love Affair
With thanks to member Graeme "broadarrow303" Barber, an excellent new research article about the Lewis Gun has been added to the United Kingdom - Milsurps Knowledge Library (click here).
Lewis Gun Love Affair (FULL article - click here)
Article Extract .....
Believe it or not this Lewis gun ‘love affair’ goes back 57 years when as a young boy I visited (most weekends with my parents) my grandparents farm at Corredale near Oamaru in the South Island of New Zealand. Dad would help on the farm followed by wandering around the rolling hills shooting rabbits, with me eagerly tagging along from the age of 2 years. Any chance I could I would sneak in to the old dairy attached to the homestead to stare longingly at the picture of 'big' guns hanging on the wall. It was in fact a military training chart hanging from a nail by butchers string with a Lewis gun on one side and a Bren gun on the other. Over the years my grandfather (a WWI veteran from the Somme trenches) told me how as a Captain of the local Home Guard during WW II, he spent most Sundays training the Guardsmen in shooting SMLE rifles and machine guns on a range built on his farm. This eager young boy often re-enacted battles on the range with his brothers and cousins, asked lots of questions and got to see several other mementos of WWI and training items used with the Home Guard. My burgeoning interest in shooting and war stories must have been recognised by my Grandfather because when I was 10 years of age he gave me a No 23 grenade, a sectionalised No 36 grenade, his money and corps belts both adorned with WW1 badges and buttons and the much admired machine gun training charts. My life long interest in collecting British militaria was very much born. (article continues) .....
Sample pics from article's extensive photo montage
Left - Lewis Model 1914 Light Machine Gun fitted with No 5 Magazine and Mk III Field Mount (Bi-pod) introduced September 1915 LOC 17483
Middle- A circa WWII modified ‘L’ marked pattern 37 web equipment Bren gun pouch with spare pawls, return springs, replacement parts, loading tools (metal and half metal/wood types), barrel spanners first and second type (modified from Oct 17th 1921-LOC 24676), clearing plugs MkI and MkII (from August 31st 1916-LOC 17938), gas regulator reamer, and bolt handle extension (an American product that fitted in to the bolt handle to assist with retracting a jammed bolt).
Right - Lewis gun in pieces and parts list - NZ Archives Wellington R224340330
(Click PIC to Enlarge)(Click PIC to Enlarge)
Regards,
Doug
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The Following 5 Members Say Thank You to Badger For This Useful Post:
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04-03-2016 08:45 AM
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Contributing Member
Seeking items for the German MG08, MG08/15. LMG08/15 & T Gewehr.
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Thank You to MG1918 For This Useful Post:
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Contributing Member
Lewis Gun - who cannot love it!!
Seeking items for the German MG08, MG08/15. LMG08/15 & T Gewehr.
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Legacy Member
Originally Posted by
MG1918
Lewis Gun - who cannot love it!!
Let me guess. People who have experience with the Vickers? But even then, there's something endearing about the Lewis.
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Advisory Panel
One of the first weapons I handled in the army was a Lewis. I was still in basic training and we were doing a trooping of the color, we had a weapons display to set up. They dropped the weapons off and I was among the responsible to see that these didn't go stray, so if I was going to be there, I'd figure them out. I handled and stripped and assembled...Lewis, Sten, Bren, #1 and #4 Lee Enfield...Ross rifle... I liked it then and later when firing it.
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Contributing Member
Age'ist
Jim I am not a young man myself but when was this? Surely the Canadian Army gave up the lewis by the eighties??
Seeking items for the German MG08, MG08/15. LMG08/15 & T Gewehr.
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Thank You to MG1918 For This Useful Post:
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Advisory Panel
Originally Posted by
MG1918
when was this
I joined in the '70's...and this was 1974. These were a group of weapons brought forward for a display as stated, and there were the other ones I described too. They came from the Regimental Museum I believe, in Calgary AB. They were just about mint. We were using the FN family then. The Lewis' I used and handled after that were privately owned.
Just like everyone else here...
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Legacy Member
You know, the Lewis had a bastard grandson, born of a liaison between the FG42 and the MG42...
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Contributing Member
Originally Posted by
old tanker
Yes look up BULLPUP. once again a great idea before its time!
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Advisory Panel
Some 50 years ago, I put quite a few rounds through a Lewis.
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